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A lot of books go unnoticed, but when a Hollywood film director gets hold of a good one they think will do well, you can guarantee a lot of attention. I’m betting Twilight more than tripled its sales numbers after the release of the first film, and the same goes for Harry Potter. Also, a lot of people just don’t like reading, (I know, I don’t get it either) so a film allows a novelist’s audience to expand beyond the normal possibilities.

4 – People get to see a different take on a book

When you read a book, you get to picture all of the characters yourself; you are like a builder and the writer is an architect. But when you watch a film adaptation, it’s like moving into a house you asked someone else to design and build for you. It’s nice to get someone else’s take on a book for a change, however, nothing can beat your original ideas when reading a book.

3 – There are no more advantages to making a film adaptation!

Let’s be honest, film adaptations aren’t usually great. Sometimes, a Harry Potter comes along, or a Sherlock Holmes, but usually, they’re terrible; this is especially true if you’ve read the book before watching the film. I remember when I went to see ‘Angels and Demons’ a few years ago, I remember being angry, very angry. The main antagonist wasn’t even the same person!

Anyway, after that, thanks for reading. Oh, and feel free to add your points about film adaptations in the comments below.

Since my last post on literature, The Ten Best Things About Reading, was fairly successful I thought I would follow it up with this, The Ten Best Things About Writing Creatively. Obviously, writing is a less frequented activity than reading but it’s definitely important. What would we read if there were no writers?

Some of the points here are similar to the points on reading, the activities are linked, so there will be some overlap; however the ideas behind them will change. So, here we go…

10 – It’s a welcome distraction

Much like reading, writing is a welcome distraction from the busy world. When you’ve had a stressful day and all you want to do is relax, it may not be soothing, in fact it’s the complete opposite, but you can turn that stress into a story; and that is what is so special about writing. Once that story is finished, then you can relax.

9 – It can earn money

Some, extremely lucky writers get very, very rich; J.K. Rowling is one of very few such writers and most will never reach the lofty heights of stardom. However, there is hope for the many left behind like myself. Once a writer is good enough at their craft to get published, they can start to earn money; yes, this is not what writing is about and yes, it’s not much money, but it’s enough to support a writer until they can write another novel, and that is all we want.

8 – It can be enjoyable

Every writer, if they are writing for the right reasons about the right thing, enjoys what they do. Much like any other creative craft, we wouldn’t do it if we didn’t; no painter hates painting; no craftsman hates crafting, and no living thing hates breathing. It is what we do, it is who we are, and we love it. Well, that got a bit dramatic didn’t it…moving on!

7 – It allows you to become somebody else

It is rare for a writer to use their own voice in a novel, unless it some form of creative autobiography or memoir. Thus we adopt a new personality when we write: I am a white student from Blackpool in the North of England, but as a writer I have been a lonely old man wishing for his wife to live again; I have been a slave during the height of the slave trade in the Caribbean wishing for freedom; and I have been a murderer. When you can see from many angles, it gets a lot easier to see the whole picture.

6 – It can be educational

As a writer, you learn something new every time you write a story. This new found knowledge can be factual, like that found whilst researching a disorder a character in your story has, or emotional, like that found when you realise how a lonely, dying man must feel in his last hours. Through writing you can also learn about yourself, that is, the way you think about things; it’s a lot harder to ignore a homeless man when you know how he feels.

5 – It can be enjoyable for others

One of the things writers love the most, or at least I do, is when somebody congratulates you on a good piece of work. It’s nice to be appreciated, and when multiple compliments start coming in, well it’s wonderful, and I’ll leave it at that.

4 – It gives you a purpose

When all else fails, if you’re sad, lonely, or stressed, you can always count on writing to give you a purpose in life. Sometimes it’ll be more of a friend than you expect, lifting you out of a foul mood by allowing you to write well first time, but sometimes you’ll hit a brick wall. However annoying this brick wall is, and however much you want to throw your computer out the window, you’ll get past it, and when that happens the foul mood you once were in will be gone for just a little while longer.

3 – Your writing may one day influence another person

Among my greatest desires is that one day, I will publish a novel, and that someone will read and be affected by it, just like I am when I read a play by Samuel Becket, or a novel by George Orwell. I would love to have someone read my thoughts and have them influence their own, perhaps allowing them to better understand the position of someone under prejudice, or even the nature of the world around them. To be a definite factor in the development of a person, especially a child, would be absolutely amazing for any writer I am sure.

2 – It allows you to express yourself

What more can you ask of an activity than the ability to express yourself? Writing is one of the few activities that allow expression in its truest form; like art, dance, and song, writing allows us to project ourselves for others to see. This is a scary thing, it can be uncomfortable, especially when people don’t like what they see, but it is also a wondrous thing. In my opinion there is no better way to live your life than in a way that others can see and learn from.

1 – It makes us better people

Like reading, writing creatively makes us better, more well-rounded people. When you can see through the eyes of any person, influence others, and enjoy it at the same time you truly are at your best. Especially if you do it well.

Reading, what a wonderful thing to do. There are so many benefits, and the only down side I can see is the loss of time. Let’s be honest what would you be doing instead? Watching TV? Stalking your friends on facebook? Well…that does sound kind of fun…no! Snap out of it, don’t be hypnotised by it again, I won’t lose hours of my day watching Scott and Bailey. Oh, I already did…

Anyway, after that strange outburst I may as well make a start on the list.

10 – It’s a welcome distraction

In a world where relaxation is boring and we can’t stand to stay still for more than a few minutes, reading is a welcome break. If you’ve just come back from a hard day at work but you don’t want to numb your brain with monotonous television, pull out a book. A bit of Iain Banks or George Orwell usually sorts me out.

9 – It can be a talking point

We’ve all been in that awkward situation where no one has anything to say: nothing interesting has happened in anyone’s lives; you haven’t seen the latest episode of [insert popular TV program]; and you’re just plain bored. Talk about the book you just read, someone might be interested in it. Sarah Kane once turned a really awkward group session into pure hilarity when I mentioned one of yer plays.

8 – It can be enjoyable

There’s a lot to be said in favour of fiction as an entertainer. It can make you laugh, it can make you smile, it can make you angry, and it can even make you cry. While crying isn’t usually a good thing, it is when the cause is a book. I once cried into a book called ‘A Boy Called It’ when the child, Dave, was forced into a bath of bleach by his mother, it was an autobiography written in the style of a novel which made it a whole lot more emotional.

7- There is a lot of variation

If you’re bored of shows like Law and Order, whose sole purpose seems to be repetition, pay a visit to your local book shop, or shop online on Amazon if you’re lazy like me. There are so many variations of novels, Romance, Thriller, Horror. Alternatively you could pick up a poetry collection, you won’t find much poetry on popular television I can tell you that. There are those genres that seem to be everywhere however, *cough* teenage vampire romance *cough*.

6 – It can be educational

Every novel I read teaches me something new, it can be something simple like finding out that ‘nice’ used to mean ‘neat’, or complex like observing a mentally ill character and how their illness effects others around them. Effectively, the more you read the more you’ll find out, especially of you’re reading non-fiction. Reading Physics books about the Universe, time, and other interesting things has become a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I would recommend ‘Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel’ by Michio Kaku if you’re interested.

5 – It makes you feel smart

This may make me sound a bit smug, but reading makes me feel intelligent, and I think some people think I’m intelligent because I read. It’s nice to feel clever, i mean, who doesn’t want to be smart? At the very least everyone wants to have more general knowledge. However, be warned, no one is 100% certain if reading causes intelligence, or intelligence causes reading; I’m inclined to agree with both sides of the argument, that is, intelligent people read which makes them more intelligent.

4 – You can bond with the characters

Only in a novel can you connect with characters so intimately. When you watch a film, you know a character for only a couple of hours, but when you read a book, you can get to know the character over days or even weeks depending on how quickly you read. Some may argue that long running TV series like soaps give the viewer a lot of time to connect with characters. This is true but as a viewer you are connecting with an actors take on a character, as a reader you may interpret the same character in a completely different way. Readers can insert a piece of their personality into the characters giving them something else to connect with on an even deeper level.

3 – It allows us to see different points of view

In life we only get to see one version of reality, we walk around our town, village, or city thinking the same things over and over again. However, there is an answer to our desperate plight. Why not experience the world through the eyes of a superhero, or a child, an animal, a person of different ethnic origin, a person of a different social class, perhaps even a murderer, or a rapist. All of these experiences are waiting to be…well experienced…on your local library shelf. So get reading!

2 – Influence on writing

On a personal level, reading helps inspire me to write. A few weeks ago I wrote a piece of flash fiction I called ‘The Slave’ based on a character from a novel called ‘Cambridge’ by Caryl Phillips. Not only plot and character ideas are gained from reading other writer’s work, but also writing styles. If I had never read Nell Dunn’s ‘Up The Junction’ I wouldn’t write dialogue the way I do now, or if I hadn’t read Henry James’ ‘The Turn of the Screw’ I wouldn’t write prose like I do now. Like I said on the point about reading being educational, with everything I read I learn something new.

1 – It makes us better people

Finally, I think reading makes us better people in all respects. It helps us to become more intelligent, more accepting, more compassionate, more understanding, more loving, and more approachable people. What more can you ask of a minimal effort, day-to-day activity? I’ll tell you what, you won’t gain all of this from staring at a computer screen all day waiting for a friend to come online, or from playing online mini-games.

After all that, I only have one more thing to say. Thank you for visiting my blog, I’m off to read.

This blog will focus on Literature and Creative Writing, with a bit of Philosophy thrown in the mix. Each day I will post something new on various subjects within the literary universe; from reviews of my favourite (and my least favourite) books, to philosophical debates on the value of literature, and my own Creative Writing.

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